System and method of increasing fuel sales at a fuel service station

ABSTRACT

A system and method of cross-selling products and increasing fuel sales at a fuel service station. A price-per-unit (PPU) discount for fuel is associated with a purchase of a non-fuel product. A display screen at the dispenser then informs the customer of the PPU discount and that a future purchase of fuel can be currently made at today&#39;s price, or may be purchased over the Internet at a later time. The system determines whether the customer ordered a non-fuel product or future fuel, and records the customer&#39;s orders. The system then accepts the customer&#39;s payment for the non-fuel product and the future fuel, and discounts the PPU of the fuel by the amount associated with the purchase of the non-fuel product during a current fuel purchase by the customer. This is followed by encoding the customer&#39;s purchase of the non-fuel product and the customer&#39;s purchase of future fuel on a token, and providing the customer with the encoded token for redemption for the non-fuel product and/or for future fuel at a future date.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Technical Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to automated retail systems and, moreparticularly, to a system and method of increasing fuel sales andnon-fuel product sales at a fuel service station.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] Vendors of various products often find it desirable to enter intocross-marketing agreements in which the purchase of a product from afirst vendor earns a discount coupon for the consumer on a product froma second vendor. As used herein, the term “vendor” refers to themanufacturer of a specific product or the supplier of specific services.The term “merchant” refers to the store where the products arepurchased, such as grocery stores, convenience stores, gasoline servicestations, unattended fueling stations, etc.

[0005] Merchants operating convenience stores often sell consumerproducts inside the store and sell gasoline outside the store. Inaddition, many gasoline service stations which primarily sell gasolinealso sell consumer products. In order to tempt gasoline customers topurchase other products, these stores and stations often placeadvertising for in-store specials in the window or on digital displayson their gasoline dispensers. In addition, some gasoline servicestations offer discounts for car washing services if a minimum amount ofgasoline is purchased. However, prior to the present invention, therehas not been a system or method of tying a gasoline purchase to apurchase of a consumer product or service in a way that makes it easyfor the consumer to purchase the consumer product or service, and whichprovides an economic incentive for the customer to purchase additionalproducts.

[0006] Merchants who sell a number of products would benefit from asystem and method of increasing product sales and volume through acombination of cross-selling of products and future selling of products.The present invention provides such a system and method.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In one aspect, the present invention is a method of cross-sellingproducts. The method includes the steps of associating a price-per-unit(PPU) discount for fuel with a purchase of a non-fuel product, informinga customer of the PPU discount associated with the purchase of thenon-fuel product, recording the customer's purchase of the non-fuelproduct, and discounting the PPU of the fuel by the associated amountduring a fuel purchase by the customer. The method may also include thesteps of encoding the customer's purchase of the non-fuel product on anencoded token such as a paper receipt with a personal identificationnumber (PIN) or bar code, magnetic strip, smart card, key fob, etc. andproviding the customer with the encoded token for redemption for thenon-fuel product.

[0008] In another aspect, the present invention is a method ofincreasing fuel sales at a fuel service station. The method includes thesteps of informing a customer that a future purchase of fuel can becurrently made at today's price, recording the customer's order forfuture fuel, accepting the customer's payment for the future fuel,encoding the customer's purchase of future fuel on a token, andproviding the customer with the encoded token for redemption at a futuredate.

[0009] In yet another aspect, the present invention is a method ofincreasing a merchant's fuel sales at a fuel service station whichincludes the steps of informing a customer that the merchant offers avolume-sensitive discount on a future fuel purchase if the customercurrently purchases a volume of fuel that exceeds a threshold amount offuel, and determining whether the customer purchases a volume of fuelthat exceeds the threshold amount. The volume-sensitive discount onfuture fuel is encoded upon determining that the customer purchased avolume of fuel that exceeds the threshold amount. This is followed byrecording the customer's volume-sensitive discount on future fuel,encoding the customer's volume-sensitive discount on a token, andproviding the customer with the encoded token for redemption at a futuredate.

[0010] The present invention is also a method of cross-selling productswhich includes the steps of associating a PPU discount for fuel with apurchase of a non-fuel product at a first site, informing a customer atthe first site of the PPU discount associated with the purchase of thenon-fuel product, determining that the customer ordered the non-fuelproduct, and discounting the PPU of the fuel by the associated amountduring a fuel purchase by the customer. A reward file associated withthe customer's purchase of the non-fuel product is recorded in adatabase at the first site, and the customer's purchase of the non-fuelproduct is encoded on a token. The encoded token is then provided to thecustomer for redemption for the non-fuel product. This is followed bydetermining at a later time that the customer has presented the tokenfor redemption at a second site which communicates with the first siteover a data network. The second site requests that the first site sendthe reward file, and the first site sends the reward file to the secondsite. The customer's token is then redeemed for the non-fuel product atthe second site. Information regarding the redeemed token may then besent to a central server in the data network which allocates a value ofthe non-fuel product to the first site.

[0011] In yet another aspect, the present invention is a system forcross-selling products which comprises a display screen at a fueldispenser that informs a customer of a PPU discount for fuel which isawarded if the customer purchases an associated non-fuel product, meansfor the customer to purchase the non-fuel product at the dispenser, adatabase which records the customer's purchase of the non-fuel product,and a processor which discounts the PPU of the fuel by the amount of thePPU discount in response to the customer's purchase of the non-fuelproduct.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The invention will be better understood and its numerous objectsand advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art byreference to the following drawings, in conjunction with theaccompanying specification, in which:

[0013]FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of the preferredembodiment of the method of the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 2 is an exemplary display screen format offering a consumervarious price-per-unit discount rewards on gasoline in exchange forpurchasing cross-marketed consumer products;

[0015]FIG. 3 is an exemplary printout of a fuel sales token on which thepurchase of a non-fuel product is indicated;

[0016]FIG. 4 is an exemplary printout of a fuel sales token on which afuture purchase of gasoline is indicated;

[0017]FIG. 5 is an exemplary printout of a fuel sales token on which thepurchase of a non-fuel product and a future purchase of gasoline areindicated;

[0018]FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of the system of the presentinvention; and

[0019]FIGS. 7A and 7B are a flow chart illustrating the steps of themethod of the present invention when handling a reward that is earned ata first site and redeemed at a second site.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0020] The present invention enables a consumer at a gasoline servicestation to purchase both gasoline and additional consumer products(i.e., non-fuel products) in one convenient transaction. If paying bycredit card, cash, prepaid card, smart card, or debit card at thegasoline dispenser, the consumer is given a coded token which is used inthe station or at another participating location to pick up the non-fuelconsumer products which were purchased. In addition, the consumer isgiven an incentive to purchase the non-fuel products by providing theconsumer with a discounted price-per-unit (PPU) on the current gasolinepurchase if the non-fuel products are purchased. Alternatively, the PPUdiscount may be applied to a future purchase of fuel. Additionally, thesystem may provide the consumer the opportunity to purchase futuregasoline at today's street price. The system may also provide avolume-sensitive reward for the purchase of gasoline by offering theconsumer a price-per-unit discount on a future purchase of gasoline ifthe consumer purchases more than a minimum required amount of gasoline.

[0021]FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of the preferredembodiment of the method of the present invention. At step 11, a displayscreen 41 (See FIG. 2) at the gasoline dispenser offers the consumer theopportunity to purchase non-fuel products at a given price, and receivean instant reward on the price-per-unit of gasoline, or to purchasefuture fuel at today's street price. An exemplary display screen formatis illustrated in FIG. 2. The number of non-fuel products that can bepurchased at the dispenser is not limited by the system, but isdetermined by the merchant. Other methods of conveying rewardinformation to the customer, such as an audio message, may also beutilized in the present invention, as long as the information conveyedrelates to a PPU discount in exchange for purchasing non-fuel productsor future fuel.

[0022] At step 12, the customer makes his selections. The customer mayselect a future fuel purchase only, non-fuel products, or nothing byindicating FINISHED. If the customer selects fuel only, the processskips ahead to step 19. If the customer selects FINISHED, the processskips ahead to step 22. However, if the customer selects non-fuelproducts, the process moves to step 13 where the PPU of each grade offuel is discounted accordingly. At step 14, the customer then selectsMORE OPTIONS or FINISHED.

[0023] If the customer selects MORE OPTIONS, the process moves to step15 where additional non-fuel products are displayed along with theirassociated PPU rewards. The customer makes additional selections at 16,and the PPU of each grade of fuel is discounted at step 17. As eachnon-fuel product is selected, the computed PPU is reduced accordingly.The amount of the reward may be paid to the oil company by the merchantor the vendors of the non-fuel products that were purchased. If theinside of the station is closed during certain hours, but the gasolinedispensers stay on for the use of customers, a scheduler (timer) may beutilized to disable the purchase of non-fuel products during the hoursthat the station is closed.

[0024] Once again at step 18, the customer selects MORE OPTIONS orFINISHED. If the customer selects FINISHED, the process skips to step22. However, if the customer selects MORE OPTIONS, the process moves tostep 19 where future fuel sale amounts are displayed. For example, thecustomer may be given the choice to purchase, at today's street price ora fixed price, gallons of gasoline ranging from 10 to 40 gallons in5-gallon increments. The customer then selects the desired amount andgrade of fuel at step 21.

[0025] The process then moves to step 22 where optional methods ofpayment are displayed to the customer. Optionally, the process mayreturn from step 21 to step 11 where the display screen 41 again offersthe consumer the opportunity to purchase non-fuel products for aninstant reward on the price-per-unit of gasoline, or to purchase futurefuel at today's street price. If the customer selects FINISHED, theprocess then moves to step 22 where optional methods of payment aredisplayed to the customer. The customer selects a payment type at 23,and if paying outside with a credit card or debit card, theauthorization process is performed. At step 24, optional fuel gradessuch as unleaded, plus, and super are displayed to the customer alongwith their discounted PPUs. The customer then selects a fuel grade at25.

[0026] The dispenser is then activated, and the fuel is dispensed at 27.With the present invention, some merchants may provide avolume-sensitive reward for the purchase of gasoline by offering theconsumer a PPU discount on a future purchase of fuel if the consumerpurchases more than a minimum required amount of fuel. Therefore at step28, it is determined whether or not the merchant offers avolume-sensitive reward. If not, the process skips to step 32. If thereward is offered, the process moves to step 29 where it is determinedwhether or not the fuel purchase exceeded the required threshold amountto be eligible for the volume-sensitive reward. There may be multiplethreshold amounts for differing reward levels, and this determinationmay include referencing a table such as Table 1 below. If the minimumthreshold level was not exceeded, the process skips to step 32. If thepurchase exceeded the minimum threshold amount, the process moves tostep 31 where the system encodes the appropriate discount earned for thefuture fuel purchase. TABLE 1 Fuel Volume Currently Purchased Reward onNext Fuel Purchase 1 to 2 volume units $0.01 per gallon 3 to 4 volumeunits $0.02 per gallon 5 to 8 volume units $0.03 per gallon 9 to 11volume units $0.04 per gallon 12 to 15 volume units $0.05 per gallon

[0027] The process then moves to step 32 where the system encodes anypurchases of future fuel that the customer made at step 21, and anypurchases of non-fuel products that the customer made at steps 12 or 16.Purchases of future fuel are encoded with the PPU set for each grade offuel. Table 2 below represents an exemplary database of PPUs for eachgrade of gasoline. Rewards may vary by grade and by amount of gasolinepurchased. TABLE 2 Volume Units Regular Unleaded Super Unleaded PremiumUnleaded 10 gallons $0.89 = ($8.90)  $1.09 = ($10.90) $1.12 = ($11.20)15 gallons $0.87 = ($13.05) $1.07 = ($16.05) $1.10 = ($16.50) 20 gallons$0.84 = ($16.80) $1.04 = ($20.80) $1.07 = ($21.40)

[0028] An encoded fuel sales token is then printed at step 33. Exemplaryprintouts of the fuel sales token are illustrated in FIGS. 3-5. At step34, the customer then provides the encoded sales token to the merchantas payment for the non-fuel products that were selected. If a futurefuel discount was earned, the customer returns at a future date andenters the token into an input device at the dispenser such as a barcode scanner, card reader, PIN pad, etc. The PPU of the fuel is thenreduced by the encoded discount amount.

[0029] When the purchase is encoded, identifying data is also storedlocally in a rewards database. The identifying data includes the date ofthe purchase, the products purchased, the discount earned, the merchantwhere the purchase was made, and the location of the merchant. Thepurchase of future fuel is tracked locally by grade and volume, and taxdata to report all applicable taxes to city, regional, and state taxingauthorities is contained in the file. However, the customer can redeemthe purchase at any merchant location in a participating network ofmerchants. If the total taxes are greater at the redeeming site than thetaxes at the site where the fuel was purchased, the redeeming merchantmay have to absorb the difference by reducing his profit margin.Alternatively the customer can be informed at the time of purchase thatthe quoted price includes taxes in effect at the site (and time) wherethe fuel was purchased, but that higher taxes at other locations orlater times could result in a higher PPU when redeemed.

[0030]FIG. 3 is an exemplary printout of a fuel sales token 43 on whichthe purchase of a non-fuel product is indicated. The token indicates afuel type 49, a standard PPU (price/gal) 51, a reward per gallon 53, anda net PPU 55 after the reward is applied. The non-fuel product which waspurchased is also indicated at 57 on the token. The purchase is furtherindicated in a non-fuel product bar code 59.

[0031]FIG. 4 is an exemplary printout of a fuel sales token 45 on whicha future purchase of fuel is indicated. There is no immediate PPUreward, so the token reflects the standard information for a fuelpurchase. However, a Fuel Due ID 61 is provided along with a fuel barcode 63 for the future fuel that was purchased.

[0032]FIG. 5 is an exemplary printout of a fuel sales token 47 on whichthe purchase of a non-fuel product and a future purchase of gasoline areindicated. The token indicates the fuel type 49, the standard PPU(price/gal) 51, the reward per gallon 53, and the net PPU 55. Thenon-fuel product which was purchased is also indicated at 57 on thetoken. The purchase is further indicated in a non-fuel product bar code59. The token additionally indicates the Fuel Due ID 61 along with afuel bar code 63 for the future fuel that was purchased.

[0033]FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of the system of the presentinvention. Three sites, Site-1 (71), Site-2 (72), and Site-3 (73) areillustrated although in actuality, the number of sites may be greater orlesser than three. Each site may represent, for example, a fuel servicestation, a store in a chain of merchant stores, a vendor in a stripshopping center (such as a fast food restaurant or a cleaners) or avendor in a shopping mall (such as a department store). All sites thatsell fuel include a fuel dispenser 74 which includes an on-siteprocessor (CPU) 75, an island card reader (ICR) 76 for reading creditand debit cards, a bar code reader 77 or other input device for enteringcustomer tokens, a printer 78 for printing customer tokens, an interfaceport 79 for interfacing with the on-site CPU, and a display screen 80for displaying information to the customer and receiving customerinputs. The on-site CPU is connected to a rewards database 81 forstoring information relating to issued and redeemed rewards.

[0034] In FIG. 6, Site-1 represents a site with fuel sales, andtherefore includes the fuel dispenser 74. Site-2 represents a sitewithout fuel sales, and therefore includes only an on-site CPU 84 and arewards database 85. Site-3 may be either of the above or may be anInternet access device such as a personal computer (PC) at a customer'shome or office. Each site is connected through its on-site CPU to a datanetwork such as the Internet 82 for communication with other sites andwith a central server 83 which collects from the sites, rewardinformation and allocations to merchants and vendors made by the siteCPUs. Thus, each site has access to the rewards issued at other sites.

[0035]FIGS. 7A and 7B are a flow chart illustrating the steps of themethod of the present invention when handling a reward that is earned ata first site and redeemed at a second site. At step 91 of FIG. 7A, acustomer earns a PPU discount reward at Site-1 as described above inFIG. 1. The on-site CPU 75 at Site-1 then creates a reward file at step92 and stores the file in the rewards database 81. The printer 78 thenprints a token for the customer at step 93. As illustrated in FIGS. 3-5,the token includes a bar code in which the earned reward is encoded.

[0036] At a later point in time, the customer travels to another site toredeem the earned reward. If the redeeming site is a site where fuel issold, the customer may scan the token at step 94 utilizing the bar codereader at the site dispenser. If the redeeming site does not sell fuel,and the reward is for a non-fuel product, the token may be scanned by astore clerk at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal. At step 95, the site CPUvalidates the scanned data and checks an ID location field to determinethe IP address of the issuing site, in this case Site-1. At step 96, thesite CPU requests the complete reward file from Site-1 over the Internet82. The Site-1 CPU decodes the ID field to determine the IP address ofthe requesting site, and validates the request at step 97. At step 98,the Site-1 CPU then retrieves the complete file from the rewardsdatabase, sends the file to the requesting site, and marks the file as“sent” in the rewards database. The process then moves to step 101 ofFIG. 7B.

[0037] At step 101, the requesting site CPU receives the complete fileand creates a new record. It is determined at step 102 whether thereward is for a future fuel sale, a discounted PPU for a fuel sale, oris for one or more non-fuel products purchased at another location. Ifthe reward is for a discounted PPU for a fuel sale, the process moves tostep 103 where the site CPU discounts the PPU of the fuel accordingly.The customer then pumps fuel at step 104 and redeems the reward. At step105, the site CPU calculates the reward redeemed by, for example,multiplying the PPU discount by the number of gallons purchased. Theredeemed reward is then marked and stored in the site rewards database.

[0038] As noted above, the process described in FIGS. 7A and 7B may alsobe utilized to redeem, at other sites in the network, purchases ofnon-fuel products purchased at a first site. Thus, while a customer canpurchase a non-fuel product at the first site and receive the discounton the PPU of the fuel, the token does not have to be redeemedimmediately or even at the same site. For example, if the station atSite-1 is very crowded inside, and the customer does not want to waitinside to-redeem the token, the customer can come back later or canproceed to another network site such as Site-2 to redeem the token. Ifthe product or service is purchased at a shopping mall, the customer canenter a participating retailer's store and pick up the product.

[0039] Therefore, if it was determined at step 102 that the scannedtoken revealed a reward for one or more non-fuel products, then theprocess moves from step 102 to step 106 where the customer obtains thenon-fuel product(s) at, for example, Site-2. At step 107, the Site-2 CPU84 records the reward redeemed in the Site-2 rewards database 85.

[0040] If it was determined at step 102 that the scanned token revealeda future fuel sale (i.e., the customer pre-purchased a number of unitsof fuel), then the process moves from step 102 to step 111 where thesystem registers the number of units of fuel (e.g., gallons, liters,etc.) that were pre-purchased. At step 112, the system cross-checks taxfields in its database and determines any difference between the totaltaxes at the site where the fuel was purchased and the site where thetoken is being redeemed. If there is any difference, the PPU is adjustedfor the difference. At step 113, the customer pumps fuel and redeems allor part of the pre-purchased amount. If only part of the pre-purchasedamount was redeemed, the site CPU calculates the number of unitsremaining and calculates applicable taxes at step 114. At step 115, thesite CPU records the units remaining in the site database, and at step116 a new encoded token is provided to the customer reflecting thenumber of units remaining.

[0041] From step 105, step 107, or step 116, the process then moves tostep 108 where the site CPU at the redeeming site determines allocationsto tax authorities and merchants and vendors of the fuel and/or thenon-fuel products. The central server 83 may be programmed to collectsite information in real time or periodically such as once per day, orevery 12 hours, etc. Therefore, at step 109, the redeeming site CPUmakes a report of the redeemed rewards to the central server.

[0042] Referring again to FIG. 6, it was noted that Site-3 may be acustomer's PC at his home or office, etc. From the customer's PC, thecustomer may access the Internet and reach the web site for a fuelvendor. Through the web site, the customer may purchase future fuel ornon-fuel products and receive the same rewards that are availablethrough purchases at the fuel dispenser. The system may print an encodedtoken for the customer on the customer's printer. When the customerpresents the token for redemption at a participating site, the encodingmay reveal an IP address for the central server as the site where thepurchase was made, thereby validating the purchase.

[0043] It is thus believed that the operation and construction of thepresent invention will be apparent from the foregoing description. Whilethe method, apparatus and system shown and described has beencharacterized as being preferred, it will be readily apparent thatvarious changes and modifications could be made therein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as defined in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of cross-selling products comprising thesteps of: associating a price-per-unit (PPU) discount for fuel with apurchase of a non-fuel product; informing a customer of the PPU discountassociated with the purchase of the non-fuel product; recording thecustomer's purchase of the non-fuel product; and discounting the PPU ofthe fuel by the associated amount during a fuel purchase by thecustomer.
 2. The method of cross-selling products of claim 1 wherein thestep of informing a customer of the PPU discount includes displaying theassociated PPU discount for fuel on a display screen at a fueldispenser.
 3. The method of cross-selling products of claim 1 whereinthe step of discounting the PPU of the fuel includes discounting the PPUof the fuel during at the time of the purchase of the non-fuel product.4. The method of cross-selling products of claim 1 wherein the step ofdiscounting the PPU of the fuel includes discounting the PPU of the fuelfor a future fuel purchase after the purchase of the non-fuel product.5. The method of cross-selling products of claim 1 further comprisingthe steps of: encoding the customer's purchase of the non-fuel producton a token; and providing the customer with the encoded token forredemption for the non-fuel product.
 6. A method of increasing fuelsales by a fuel company comprising the steps of: informing a customerthat a future purchase of fuel can be currently made at today's price;recording the customer's order for future fuel; accepting the customer'spayment for the future fuel; encoding the customer's purchase of futurefuel on a token; and providing the customer with the encoded token forredemption at a future date.
 7. The method of increasing fuel sales ofclaim 6 further comprising, before the step of informing a customer thata future purchase of fuel can be currently made at today's price, thestep of providing the customer with access to a central server for thefuel company over the Internet, and wherein the steps of the method areperformed over the Internet between a customer Internet access deviceand the central server.
 8. The method of increasing fuel sales of claim7 wherein the step of encoding the customer's purchase of future fuel ona token includes encoding the token with an IP address for the centralserver.
 9. The method of increasing fuel sales of claim 8 furthercomprising the step of accepting the token as payment for fuel at aparticipating fuel company site.
 10. The method of increasing fuel salesof claim 7 further comprising, before the step of providing the customerwith the encoded token for redemption at a future date, the steps of:informing the customer that a price-per-unit (PPU) discount on fuel isavailable with a purchase of a non-fuel product; recording a purchase ofa non-fuel product by the customer; and encoding the PPU discount on thetoken.
 11. A method of increasing a merchant's fuel sales at a fuelservice station comprising the steps of: informing a customer that themerchant offers a volume-sensitive discount on a future fuel purchase ifthe customer currently purchases a volume of fuel that exceeds athreshold amount of fuel; determining whether the customer purchases avolume of fuel that exceeds the threshold amount; encoding thevolume-sensitive discount on future fuel, upon determining that thecustomer purchased a volume of fuel that exceeds the threshold amount;recording the customer's volume-sensitive discount on future fuel;encoding the customer's volume-sensitive discount on a token; andproviding the customer with the encoded token for redemption at a futuredate.
 12. A method of cross-selling products and increasing fuel salesat a fuel service station, said method comprising the steps of:associating a price-per-unit (PPU) discount for fuel with a purchase ofa non-fuel product; informing a customer of the PPU discount associatedwith the purchase of the non-fuel product, and that a future purchase offuel can be currently made at today's price; determining that thecustomer ordered a non-fuel product; recording the customer's order ofthe non-fuel product; determining that the customer ordered future fuel;recording the customer's order for future fuel; accepting the customer'spayment for the non-fuel product and the future fuel; discounting thePPU of the fuel by the amount associated with the purchase of thenon-fuel product during a current fuel purchase by the customer;encoding the customer's purchase of the non-fuel product and thecustomer's purchase of future fuel on a token; and providing thecustomer with the encoded token for redemption for the non-fuel productand for future fuel at a future date.
 13. The method of cross-sellingproducts and increasing fuel sales at a fuel service station of claim 12further comprising the steps of: informing a customer that the merchantoffers a volume-sensitive discount on a future fuel purchase if thecustomer currently purchases a volume of fuel that exceeds a thresholdamount of fuel; determining whether the customer purchases a volume offuel that exceeds the threshold amount; encoding the volume-sensitivediscount on future fuel, upon determining that the customer purchased avolume of fuel that exceeds the threshold amount; recording thecustomer's volume-sensitive discount on future fuel; encoding thecustomer's volume-sensitive discount on a token; and providing thecustomer with the encoded token for redemption at a future date.
 14. Amethod of cross-selling products comprising the steps of: associating aprice-per-unit (PPU) discount for fuel with a purchase of a non-fuelproduct at a first site; informing a customer at the first site of thePPU discount associated with the purchase of the non-fuel product;determining that the customer ordered the non-fuel product; discountingthe PPU of the fuel by the associated amount during a fuel purchase bythe customer; recording in a database at the first site, a reward fileassociated with the customer's purchase of the non-fuel product;encoding the customer's purchase of the non-fuel product on a token;providing the customer with the encoded token for redemption for thenon-fuel product; determining that the customer has presented the tokenfor redemption at a second site which communicates with the first siteover a data network; requesting by the second site that the first sitesend the reward file; sending the reward file from the first site to thesecond site; and redeeming the customer's token for the non-fuel productat the second site.
 15. The method of cross-selling products of claim 14wherein the data network is the Internet, and the method furthercomprises the steps of: sending information regarding the redeemed tokento a central server on the Internet; and allocating a value of thenon-fuel product to the first site.
 16. A system for cross-sellingproducts comprising: a display screen at a fuel dispenser that informs acustomer of a price-per-unit (PPU) discount for fuel which is awarded ifthe customer purchases an associated non-fuel product; means for thecustomer to purchase the non-fuel product at the dispenser; a databasewhich records the customer's purchase of the non-fuel product; and aprocessor which discounts the PPU of the fuel by the amount of the PPUdiscount in response to the customer's purchase of the non-fuel product.17. The system for cross-selling products of claim 14 furthercomprising: a printer for printing a token with the customer's purchaseof the non-fuel product encoded thereon; and means for reading theencoded token in order to redeem the token for the non-fuel product. 18.The system for cross-selling products of claim 17 further comprising: aplurality of system sites; and a data network for communicating betweeneach of the plurality of sites and for redeeming tokens at differentsites in the network from the sites where the tokens were issued. 19.The system for cross-selling products of claim 18 wherein the datanetwork is the Internet.
 20. The system for cross-selling products ofclaim 19 further comprising a central server that collects rewardinformation from the sites and makes allocations to merchants andvendors.